The present invention relates to tool guiding and marking devices and more particularly to guides and markers which are clamped to a workpiece. As such, the invention will be hereinafter called a "guide clamp," functioning both as a guide and a clamp.
The present invention is a development from and an improvement over the "guide clamp" disclosed in my application, Ser. No. 326,840, filed Dec. 3, 1981, and which has matured into U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,800, dated July 26, 1983, and which is embodied herein in its entirety by reference. The prior guide clamp and the guide clamp disclosed herein are similar in appearance and may be used in a similar manner. However, their internal features differ in significant aspects to attain a more simple, economical and versatile structure in a guide clamp as herein disclosed.
Guide clamps are not new and the patent to William J. Fortune, U.S. Pat. No. 3,287,808, is exemplary of the prior art. The basic features of a guide clamp include a guide bar having a pair of gripping jaws outstanding from one edge of the bar to clamp onto a workpiece such as a board. One jaw, the clamping jaw, is at one end of the bar. The other jaw, the shifting jaw, may be positioned along the reach of the bar to bring the jaws against the edges of the workpiece and the clamping jaw will then secure the guide clamp onto the workpiece. The guide clamp may be used for various purposes such as for clamping parts together, marking or providing an abutment for a power hand saw which is held against the guide clamp as it makes a cut across the workpiece.